The front page is going to be shut down. TCF will no longer carry article content. The forums are supposed to stay open and theclevelandfan.com is eventually going to direct right to the forums. The change that has been mentioned here about servers is likely downgrading to a smaller one to drop the hosting costs because less bandwidth will be required without content and just having a message board. It seems that there have been some bugs associated with that change.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

skatingtripods wrote:The front page is going to be shut down. TCF will no longer carry article content. The forums are supposed to stay open and theclevelandfan.com is eventually going to direct right to the forums. The change that has been mentioned here about servers is likely downgrading to a smaller one to drop the hosting costs because less bandwidth will be required without content and just having a message board. It seems that there have been some bugs associated with that change.

I enjoy the articles. Now if it's a case where no one wants to take the time, understood, but many would be willing to kick in a few bucks. I do for other sites I frequent regularly.

Once the contract with STO was up last March, the writing was on the wall (no pun intended). Without the incentive of money, the article supply really started dwindling over the summertime. On top of the hosting costs, Rich was paying Brian and I on a monthly basis to check the articles for errors, format them, keep things as fresh as we could on the front page, and tweet out the links. But it simply got to the point where the site wasn't generating enough traffic to offset the cost. But more than that, people just stopped writing. We'd go days without an article.

I was guilty of it myself. Prior to the end of the STO contract, I was writing between 25-30 articles a month to keep content fresh. I got burned out. I just recently started writing heavily again for a sports betting website and I'm writing 2500-word previews on every MLB team with a pick on their preseason win total prop bet.

Hopefully the forum issues get rectified soon so we can keep some part of what we used to have here.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

skatingtripods wrote:The front page is going to be shut down. TCF will no longer carry article content. The forums are supposed to stay open and theclevelandfan.com is eventually going to direct right to the forums. The change that has been mentioned here about servers is likely downgrading to a smaller one to drop the hosting costs because less bandwidth will be required without content and just having a message board. It seems that there have been some bugs associated with that change.

I'm sorry to hear that. Admittedly, this site was more "The Indians Fan" than full on Cleveland fan so I didn't make full use of it. But I live in a vapid wasteland where many people wouldn't recognize a baseball if it came crashing through their windshield on their way to go see [strikethrough] Peyton Manning[/strikethrough] Andrew Luck draw offside penalties and whine for a PI call every time a guy in blue is looked at in a halfway menacing manner. We also know how much the national media dotes on the Tribe. This site became an oasis in the midst of all of that, and fountain of information for my favorite team. Thanks for all the good years, and I'll keep lurking while the lights stay on.

Me too. I don't post as often as I'd like--two small children (one of them with special needs) take up a great deal of my time and attention. But I'll keep hanging around here, reading everyday and commenting when I can. I would argue that the real beauty and appeal of this site anyway is not the articles and content, but the passion, knowledge, and camaraderie exhibited on these boards. I see no reason whatsoever that couldn't continue.

I been coming here for so long for the articles , I'm kind of blind to what else is out there as far as good Cleveland sports sites go. Any recommendations on where I can start heading aside from the bloody PD.

Only other two places I frequent on a regular basis is 11 Warriors for my tOSU news, and Cleveland Frowns.

"I don't think they're building chemical weapons in Berea. But they might be. I can't say for sure."Chuck Klosterman

Govbarney wrote:I been coming here for so long for the articles , I'm kind of blind to what else is out there as far as good Cleveland sports sites go. Any recommendations on where I can start heading aside from the bloody PD.

Only other two places I frequent on a regular basis is 11 Warriors for my tOSU news, and Cleveland Frowns.

Let me know when you find it. Because I haven't. Not sure what others think of WFNY, but I can't read that either.

Yeah, I'm the same. This has been my one-stop shop for Cleveland sports info for a while now. 11W, The O-Zone, and Buckeye Battle Cry are pretty good for OSU stuff, and Tony Lastoria's site is great for minor league happenings, but this site crossed all boundaries (including my casual Cavs fandom). The front page content will be hard to replace in one go, and the boards are some of the more intelligent and friendly ones that I've seen.

Govbarney wrote:I been coming here for so long for the articles , I'm kind of blind to what else is out there as far as good Cleveland sports sites go. Any recommendations on where I can start heading aside from the bloody PD.

Only other two places I frequent on a regular basis is 11 Warriors for my tOSU news, and Cleveland Frowns.

Let me know when you find it. Because I haven't. Not sure what others think of WFNY, but I can't read that either.

I like Jacob Rosen's stuff at WFNY, but that's the numbers geek in me. Jason Lukehart is good at Let's Go Tribe on SB Nation. Stephanie Liscio is good at It's Pronounced Lajaway on the ESPN Sweet Spot network. I get most of my Indians coverage when Fangraphs, B-Pro, or Beyond the Box Score writes about something and the Indians or a specific player are/is mentioned.

As for Browns, Cavs, Buckeyes, I don't pay much attention to writing about them. Though Eleven Warriors clearly the best Buckeyes coverage.

A God Damn dead man would understand that if a minor league bus in any city took a real sharp right turn, a Zack McCalister would likely fall out. - Lead Pipe

It's a bummer to hear about the frontpage. Big shout-outs to Swerb, Peeker, Adam and anyone else who made this place go for all these years. I stumbled upon the website in early 2008 while living in Illinois because I was thirsting for Cleveland sports coverage. I've been back in Northeast Ohio since late 2008 and still frequent the site even though I can get local sports coverage via local news, talk radio, PD, etc.

I'll still frequent the boards and hope that maybe the frontpage is resurrected one day. Gotta respect the fact that so much time was put into the site even with the authors/designers' other full-time jobs and family obligations. Perfectly understandable that it can't be what it once was.

"And three of the better guys in franchise history, Daugherty, Z and now Kyrie could get hurt in a rubber room full of cotton balls." - Leadpipe

Not a big poster, but love reading the rants and arguments that are had throughout this place. There's no doubt that the boards will continue on - there are a lot of people who couldn't go on without them....

That being said - i hope people still want to pay $30 a phase to get kicked in the balls when _instert crappy closer here_ gives up a walkoff homer to the likes of the great Giambino. I don't know what my baseball season would be without that wonderful game of ours.

Cheers. I'll help keep the boards going. My favorite website, but the boards are icing on the cake. There is a solid several dozen of us that tune in most regularly, probably several more that lurk...Jennifer - are you out there in cyberspace somewhere with your purple bear?

It's started as a Tribe site and always leans that way. Maybe as the season starts we can pick up the gamethreads again. Those are hella fun. I'm in.

skatingtripods wrote:The front page is going to be shut down. TCF will no longer carry article content. The forums are supposed to stay open and theclevelandfan.com is eventually going to direct right to the forums. The change that has been mentioned here about servers is likely downgrading to a smaller one to drop the hosting costs because less bandwidth will be required without content and just having a message board. It seems that there have been some bugs associated with that change.

I have unlimited space and bandwidth on my hosting service. They can move the database of the forum, the only fee would be the annual .com renewal.Or if you prefer, start your own account at Arvixe.com it doesn't cost much, very very little downtime, their IT is right on any problem. Even if it's self inflicted.

And if you read some of my posts, you'd know that I think I am funny, too. As in my pet project, "Separared at Birth."

Again, no offense to any writer at all. I certainly am not being critical of the content. In fact, when I first came aboard (pardon the pun), I was really unaware of the front page article content.

Although I have enjoyed a vast variety of the threads on TCF, my personal favorite stuff on the forums has been:1) Game threads (although I wasn't a consistent contributor)2) Draft conversations (hey, I'm a Cleveland fan! All I can do is think about the next draft)3) NCAA March Madness (we need to have another pool)

I do wish I had an opportunity to meet up with many of you at the various gatherings that have been arranged over the years (golf outing - I don't golf), various game gatherings, etc.

"The nose of the bulldog has been slanted backwards so that he can breathe without letting go." -- Winston Churchill

This is/was the only sports forum I go to (other than Zips Nation), and has been since I joined. I joined up after the forum of the old online sports talk show (short memory, was it called SportsTalkCleveland???) kind of petered out. There my antagonist was a guy named "John from Lorain" who was also a talk show caller (sometimes on the radio shows too). Here I've had several antagonists at one time or another, often at the same goddamn time.

Some are gone now, and even though at times I wouldn't piss on them if they were on fire, I miss the banter between them and the others. I've usually learned by listening, and even as the red headed stepchild I've been in some great conversations.

I'm glad it's back, I'll help whenever I can. It was fun writing and I was hoping I could move into more popular sports one day, but getting my medical career started under the shadow of Obamacare has been a challenge (lots of jobs out there, but eventually getting into my favorite area is a tough road) and taking care of my dad's estate, it wasn't possible.

So I'll still throw out ideas and opinions. Sometimes they'll torch, but sometimes it'll spark some good shit, and those times make this the best (only) forum out there.

Dude, none taken at all. I really do just think I;m funny. No biting sarcasm intended.

I have lurked here for the entire time. I remember Swerb, on another site, changing his avatar to Lucy/Charlie Brown and mentioning he was starting his own site. So I came and stayed.

I don;t know the difference between a Nick Markakis and a Mike Moustakis (hey, I can use that) but the writers here kept me up on baseball- and the other sports covered here too. I always say it because it's true: it;'s a kick being associated with "real" sports writers. I'd say names but I don;'t want to discount those I'd omit. I've always been a fringe guy here- sometimes because I'm just trying to keep up.

I know you and your stuff here pretty well. I think I offered a Trey Anastasio/Adam Dunn look-alike post.

I wouldn't want to try to prove my bona fides or anything, though. Although I did get insulted once by Eye, so there's that.